December Bucket List

Hi everyone, thanks for stopping by today. My name is Christen Hessler. I hope that everyone is enjoying your fall and living in every moment. I am sure that many of you are just now winding down from Halloween and haven't even begun to think about Thanksgiving, but before you know it, Christmas will be here and gone! So really, truly make sure to live every moment while you can. Today, I want to share with you a fun way to enjoy all the things around the holidays and specifically December’s festivities. Since we have been talking about December Daily, I thought this would be a great time to discuss this because you can incorporate some of these everyday activities into your December Daily. 

December has many fun things to offer for my family: not only Christmas and Hanukkah, but my mother and husband’s birthdays as well. Let’s not forget some of Hollywood’s best movies come out between Thanksgiving and Christmas too. Our daughter, Reyna, is out of school, so we get to spend more quality time with her, and to wrap it all up neatly at the end, there is New Year’s Eve to celebrate as well. 

When it comes to December, or any time during winter really, I like to think up all the fun things that my family and I really don’t do any other time of the year, and we start planning who we might want to include in those fun activities. I really do enjoy planning out my holidays. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a rigid schedule of events, but there are just so many traditions and holiday activities that I enjoy. I know if I do not plan at least some of it out, I will end up missing a lot of things that I wanted to do. It is easy to get caught up spending each weekend watching Hallmark movies. The worst is when you want to do something fun with the family, or you have relatives in town, and you stress yourself out trying to find something exciting to do at the last minute. 

The best remedy is to have a bucket list! That's right, I said it. It is completely ok to have a bucket list, and let me just preface this with a reminder that you don’t have to do it all. Now, if your family is down for a challenge, that's an activity of its own, trying to knock out as many “Christmas clichés” as humanly possible. I did that one year and it was a blast - but you don’t have to make it too complicated. 

Over the years, I have compiled a massive list of fun things to do that have helped me live in the moment during the month of December. I wanted to share this list with you because I have implemented it in my December Daily scrapbook in order to capture all the little moments and quirky traditions that my family has cultivated over the years. I have captured and documented those moments so that we can look back at them and reminisce. Below are some of the bucket list items I wanted to share with you today to get your mind buzzing and to hopefully give you a starting off point towards creating your very own list. 

• Enjoy a favorite beverage from Starbucks or local coffee shop

• Coordinate matching buffalo plaid outfits with co-workers, friends or family.

• DIY ugly Sweaters

• Make handmade Christmas ornaments

• Host or attend a cookie/candy/ornament swap

• Make handmade holiday greeting cards

• Build a fort in the living room

• Bake cranberry bread

• Wear festive jewelry (the gaudier the better)

• Grown-up hot cider and snowplows

• Take the dogs/kids for a snow hike

• Create your own holiday music playlist

• Buy a gift for the “angel tree” or a community gift program

• Send over some homage baked goods to your neighbors

• Christmas pajama fashion show

• Make paper snowflakes

• Make paper garlands

• Decorate gingerbread houses or gingerbread men

• Tip the mail carrier and other service providers

• Holiday themed mani-pedi

• Read Charles Dickens’s “A Christmas Carol”

• Share the “Gift of the Magi”  with the children

• Holiday themed family or pet photo shoot

• End of year letter to friends and family

• Watch a scary or nontraditional holiday movie

• Go to the movies and see a December blockbuster

• Go ice skating or play hockey

• Family game night

• Go see a performance of “The Nutcracker”

I hope that this list gets you inspired for the holiday season! There is a FREE downloadable version of this list that you can print off and add to your holiday planner, family binder, or even stick to your fridge! There are so many creative things that can be done with the list. You can add them to your December Daily as an actual bucket list or simply use the list you create while planning out fun activities for your family during the holiday season. I personally love the idea of using the list as a starting point for capturing the memories during the festivities. I would love to hear what some of your must-do activities are during the month of December. Is there anything that you are hoping to try differently this year? Please make sure to add to the comments.